In the early 70s, when after hours screenings were all the rage, films that commenced at the stroke of twelve were frequently darker than the midnight sky.

The witching hour used to belong to movies not meant to see the light of day.

Cult items like “Even Dwarfs Started Small,” “El Topo,” “Greaser’s Palace” and “A Scarecrow in a Garden of Cucumbers” were not fit for the matinee set. The mere thought of watching “Pink Flamingos” or “Salo” during daylight hours still leaves a bad taste in one’s mouth.

This summer, however, darkness is out and Generation Next nostalgia is in.

Muppets, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and Marty McFly will be working the Saturday night graveyard shift as Midnight Madness returns to Landmark’s Ken Cinema.

The following list of crowd-pleasers will screen only once on Saturday nights starting at midnight:

June 20: “The Muppet Movie” (1979)

Star cameos abound as Miss Piggy and the rest of Frank Oz’s merry band of puppets head to Hollywood and try their best to keep a purveyor of frogs-legs away from Kermit.

June 27: “Wet Hot American Summer” (2004)

Without question the most cultish title of the bunch. While this saga of summer camp buffoonery makes “Meatballs” look like Chekov, the film has amassed quite a following, thanks to home video.

July 11: “Back to the Future” (1985)

Michael J. Fox stars in this beloved tale of a boy and his time-travelling DeLorean.

July 18: “Ghostbusters” (1984)

Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson decide to make cash through parapsychology in this entertaining spook show.

July 25: “Pink Floyd – The Wall” (1982)

Three years after the best-selling record debuted, Pink Floyd’s rock opera was given the big screen treatment. Bob Geldof stars as “Pink,” a self-indulgent rock star with animated nightmares.

August 1: “Beverly Hills Cop” (1982)

Wisecracking Detroit cop Eddie Murphy heads to swanky Beverly Hills to track down his best friend’s killer in this fast-paced action comedy.

There are two other good reasons to frequent this series: All of the films will be shown in 35mm and it will give you a chance to visit San Diego’s only single screen theater.

The Ken is a great place to see a movie. And their popcorn is unrivaled.

Event info

What: Midnight Madness

Where: Landmark’s Ken Cinema, 4061 Adams Avenue, Kensington

When: Saturday nights at midnight

How much: $7.25

Information: (619) 819-0236; Landmark’s Ken Cinema

Scott Marks is an SDNN contributor.

Tags: SDNN

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 18th, 2009 at 8:51 pm and is filed under Arts & Entertainment, Culture Cruncher, Movies . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.